Searchin'
by Red Queen
Summary: A songfic based on Joey and Mai's feelings, not necessarily for each other, but it does hint toward a relationship in the future though there is no romance in this fic but more of a dramatic sense. Based on the song Drops of Jupiter by Train.


Disclaimer: Own nothing Yugioh related.  
  
A/N: There may be grammar mistakes when Joey talks but they were intentional to portray his accent. And seems a bit long for a songfic but what the heck! Goes with Drops of Jupiter by Train.  
  
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Searchin'  
  
  
  
Joey stood at the platform, watching the duel. He still hated Mai's personality so he cheered along with his other friends for Yugi. Though he disliked the blond, he DID have to admit that she was pretty.  
  
As she stood there, he could see her long golden blond hair curling down her back. Her shining violet eyes were fixed on her opponent. Mai was obviously trying to prove to Yugi and his friends that she did change and that she abandoned her ruthless ways of dueling. She still concentrated on Yugi and her precise tactics despite of the loud Joey who was mocking her in any way possible trying to show his seemingly strong hate for her. She didn't mind, she still thought he was simply a novice even if he taught her one big lesson in that one duel.  
  
  
  
~Now that she's back in the atmosphere  
  
With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey  
  
She acts like summer and walks like rain  
  
Reminds me that there's time to change, hey, hey  
  
Since the return from her stay on the moon  
  
She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey~  
  
  
  
"MAI!!! Whatever you're up to, Yugi will definitely kick your butt!!!" Tristan shouted.  
  
"Yeah!!! Go Yugi!!! Remember we're always with you!!!" that annoying Tea screamed out.  
  
Both of the skilled duelists turned toward their audience. Yugi smiled at them, Mai was just bewildered by their soaring spirit. "They sure do believe in the little squirt, do they?" she thought. "Well it won't matter, in the end, I'll be the one who will walk out of this room the victor!"  
  
Joey finally stood still and shut himself up as he saw Mai's determined look. He smirked and thought, "Well if you've think you've got us thinkin' you changed, I'm gonna need some more proof blondie..."  
  
  
  
~Tell me did you sail across the sun  
  
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded  
  
And that heaven is overrated~  
  
  
  
Mai was still watching the small gang of friends cheering. "They are really supportive...mayb that's why Joey didn't crack up when I had him on the ropes...that kid sure is lucky to have such close friends...wait, I can't afford to think weak. Remember, I'm a duelist of power and I don't need friends! But then I will duel from the heart, like I was taught."  
  
*flashback*  
  
She stood perfectly still as she saw all three of her precious Harpies destroyed by the Thousand Dragon. She gasped.  
  
"All right Joey!!!" Tea screamed. Despite Tea's annoying efforts to stand up for her friends, Mai, at the moment, couldn't notice Tea's cheers. She was too spaced out and shocked.  
  
Joey cheered for himself in rapture for his first win. He ran to his group of friends and celebrated briefly.  
  
"How...how...? How could I lose...?" Mai thought silently.  
  
Yugi stopped his joyous cheering when he noticed Mai's red lips move. He could tell she was devastated.  
  
Mai dropped her head down and stared at her cards. She would cry if she could, but her nard outer self was too stubborn to give in to her softness inside. She simply gathered her deck and started to leave the arena.  
  
"Mai, wait!" she heard a voice from behind.  
  
She stopped but didn't turn around.  
  
"Mai, the only reason why you lost was because you were dueling for your own selfish self," he explained solemnly.  
  
"...forget it Yugi, she's too hard to listen to anythin' you say!" Joey cut in.  
  
"What was that Joey Wheeler??? Are you saying that I am too dense let another person talk to me??? I am not the duelist you think I am ok??? I listen sometimes but you're the one who's being too hard!!!" she bursted. Mai then turned around and walked off, ignoring Yugi's apologies for his friend. Off at a short distance, she could heard Joey and Tristan trying to talk Yugi out of showing her what a duelist truly fights for.  
  
"Duel from my heart...a new and intriguing concept...maybe..." her thoughts trailed off.  
  
*end flashback*  
  
After winning more duels to redeem herself, she still contemplated Yugi's words. She couldn't get it out of her head. After she saw Rex Raptor lose to Joey, she was even more convinced to believe in such a philosophy. Then soon after she regained her eight star chips from Yugi, she left to search for her own answers for herself. She couldn't forget Joey's rather luck-filled victory. She had to grasp the answer.  
  
  
  
~Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star  
  
One without a permanent scar  
  
And did you miss me while you were looking at yourself out there~  
  
  
  
Joey still focused his look to Mai's face. He stared not only at her determination, but of course, her attractive looks as well. He couldn't help it, it was the type of guy he was. Mai wasn't paying attention toward him, so she didn't notice Joey staring at her.  
  
"Hmm, let's just see how much you changed. You say you did, but we all can be the judges of that."  
  
Mai slowly turned her eyes toward Joey. He was staring at her and she knew it though she thought he wouldn't notice her staring back at him. "You were the one who beat me Joey, but you taught me a new lesson. I aim to put that lesson to a test, let's just see how good your teaching is. You tend to be a bit dense but this is one of your lessons that I'll be willing to take a shot at."  
  
While Mai gathered the next 12 star chips, two for herself and another set of ten, she slowly got into the habit of dueling more leniently. She knew not to mock too much, not to cheat and pull any tricks, or to be so ruthless. Even so, she dueled with all her might, using as many clever but true tactics as she could to win it all. That was the true purpose of her gaining 10 more star chips. Mai wanted to practice dueling in a new concept and managed to gain more star chips through the process. She never thought she would end up handing them all over to Yugi. It was evident to herself and almost anyone that she had began to see what it was all for.  
  
  
  
~Now that she's back from that soul vacation  
  
Tracing her way through the constellation, hey, hey  
  
She checks out Mozart while she does tae-bo  
  
Reminds me that there's time to grow, hey, hey~  
  
  
  
After Yugi gave an assured look of thanks, the two turned back to the duel. Joey of course kept quiet and continued to watch.  
  
Mai had unleashed her Mirror Wall a second time and soon dominated most of the match. They all watched her clever play and were shocked at her pure skill. She was absolutely not using her tricks, and Yugi and his friends always assumed her skill was only due to he scheming ways.  
  
"Agh...Yugi...this is bad. Mai's duelin' for real this time. She's still relentless, but then she ain't usin' her tricks. What is she up to???" Joey questioned himself in his head. "If she used this move on me, I would've been dead...maybe I was lucking out on that one..."  
  
"Yugi! You call this a duel?!?!" she shouted a him.  
  
Everyone, including Yugi listened on.  
  
"I promised you an honorable duel, I am giving you one, but you're not giving it your all! Are you still spazzing out about that duel with Kaiba??? Whatever is going on with you right now...DEAL WITH IT OR I SWEAR TO RAKE YOU OUT RIGHT NOW!!!" she warned. "I want you to give it your best, I'm not holding back! If you never face whatever problem it is in you, then maybe you shouldn't bother to ever duel again then!"  
  
Everyone was shocked at her words. She seemed so untruthful of her promise to a fair duel.  
  
  
  
~Now that she's back in the atmosphere  
  
I'm afraid that she might think of me as plain ol' Jane  
  
Told a story about a man who is too afraid to fly so he never did land~  
  
  
  
"Mai! What is up with ya??? You said you were gonna give a fair one!!!" Joey yelled.  
  
Mai turned her face to him. "I did! I'm giving one right now, so don't blame it one me of Yugi is too chicken to face his fears!!!" she shot back.  
  
"You call insultin' the guy fair!?!?"  
  
"Listen Joey, I am being fair. Yugi isn't being the tough duelist he is, and the only way to win this duel fairly is to win it when he hasn't lost it, you hear???"  
  
Joey scowled and quieted himself again. "She is such a faker..." he mumbled to his friends.  
  
"Of course she is! She's Mai," Tristan added.  
  
Then they turned to the arena again.  
  
"Honorable duel my butt! Mai hasn't changed one bit, what a buncha dumb hooey!" Joey thought.  
  
"They have no clue. How dare they judge me this way?!! I am NOT the cowering duelist I once was. I am now braver and I have the wits to accept the things from my heart and not from my stubborn head. I'll show that lame dweeb who I really am!!!"  
  
"Remember your promise Mai!!! I'll be watchin' this! Let's just see if you're lyin' bout your change or not!!!" Joey said sarcastically. "For the sake of all of us, just show us your answer will'ya?" he thought.  
  
  
  
~Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet  
  
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day  
  
And head back to the Milky Way  
  
And tell me, did Venus blow your mind  
  
Was it everything you wanted to find  
  
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there~  
  
  
  
Joey never thought so much about a girl before, whether if she was nice or horrible, which he couldn't decide about Mai. Joey knew she wanted to win, but her ongoing taunting misled him. Despite her rough words to Yugi, there was something within those words that kept him from thinking that Mai was still as malignant as ever.  
  
"I wonder how's it feel like havin' no one to be there for ya. I always had Yugi, Tristan, Tea, and now Bakura to cheer me on every time I duel. But she's got no one at all. It's hard to imagine all the people you know cheering against ya. I gotta admit she's strong, but she does NOT seem any different from last time!" Joey thought on. "They're always there for me, I wonder how she feels when they're dissin' her instead."  
  
Mai kept the match going and Yugi was already behind so many Life Points. The others kept cheering.  
  
"Joey! Whay are you so quiet?" Bakura asked him.  
  
He turned to his silver haired friend and said, "Just, somethin' on my mind..."  
  
"Well don't think too hard, you might get a headache little Joey...!" Tristan teased.  
  
"Ahh, be quiet you!" he cried and turned to the duel again. Though he wasn't watching the duel, but Mai. "Hmm...maybe she's only so mean cause she got no friends...maybe we should be nicer...who knows..."  
  
  
  
~Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken  
  
Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you're wrong  
  
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance five-hour phone conversation  
  
The best soy latte that you ever had...and me~  
  
  
  
"Did ya Mai? Did ya change? Did you really finally see what duelin's all about? You gotta convince me...you gotta show us, then maybe there's a chance for us to be friends...cause from the looks of it, you need some..." he continued to speak to her mentally.  
  
  
  
~Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet  
  
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day  
  
And head back toward the Milky Way~  
  
  
  
"World is tough...you got no one to help you make it through life, just show us that you can accept us, then we can help..." Joey continued.  
  
"I'll show them, I will show them that I am now a true duelist. I am dueling from my heart...I will..." Mai spoke mentally as Yugi was making his move. "I have come so far through cowardice, scared of my own self, of what my heart wants to show. Joey has miraculously given me a way to come out of my cowering self and into the real worlrd..."  
  
  
  
~Tell me did you sail across the sun  
  
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded  
  
And that heaven is overrated~  
  
  
  
"I learned more from you Joey, than anybody else. I made it farther than I would've choosing the other way to go through life. I'll thank you someday Joey. I just hope you haven't felt how I feel about someone else already...because even if I may not seem like the type to feel this way through your eyes, but I swear I've changed. So for now, I have to prove myself, then I can show you my gratitude...my searching has finally paid off..."  
  
  
  
~Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star  
  
One without a permanent scar  
  
And did you miss me while you were looking at yourself out there~  
  
  
  
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A/N: Ok, long for a songfic... (and I dunno why but "Searchin'" just sounds better as a title than "Searching" so that's why I named this fic that) took me a while to think of it. Anyway, I hope there weren't too many typos or errors...I didn't take time to proofread cause I got homework to do. And I just gotta say that Joey isn't my fav character but I just felt like making something involving him or if not Mai. Review please! ^_____________________^ 


End file.
